British Council Partners with Ghana to Empower Youth

The British Council has announced a new partnership with two Ghanaian government agencies to help young people develop skills and access job opportunities. The collaboration aims to support the youth in the areas of education, entrepreneurship, and mentorship.

The British Council, the UK’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Youth Authority (NYA) and the National Service Scheme (NSS) last Friday. The MoU was part of the council’s “Impacting Young Lives” summit, which showcased its various programmes and initiatives for the youth in Ghana.

The Country Director of the British Council Ghana, Nii Doodo Dodoo, said the MoU was a call to duty to ensure that the basic human rights for a better life do not elude young people on the continent. He said the council was convinced about the results that the partnership would bring to young people in Ghana in the areas of skills, education, and access to opportunities.

He also shared his personal experience of how the British Council helped him on his life journey from when he was a young person. He said the council facilitated his first access to international work experience and education from Ghana. He added that he had frequently met people who recalled with nostalgia how the British Council created opportunities that made substantial contributions to what they had become.

The Chief Executive Officer of NYA, Pius Hadzide, explained that the agency had implemented various programmes that addressed several facets of the development of the youth. He mentioned some of them, such as the Skills Towards Employability and Productivity (STEP) project, which provided skills training and artisanal apprenticeship to the youth to take advantage of employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for their livelihood.

He assured the youth that the institution would explore new avenues for their development and open doors for them to interact with their counterparts, learn from their experiences, and contribute to the world’s progress.

The partnership between the British Council and the Ghanaian government agencies comes at a time when the youth unemployment rate in Ghana is estimated to be 12.6%, according to the World Bank. The situation is worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted the education and economic sectors.

The British Council has been working in Ghana since 1943, offering a range of services and programmes in the fields of arts, education, English language, and society. Some of its flagship programmes for the youth include the Future Leaders Connect, the Active Citizens, the West Africa Arts Programme, and the Connecting Classrooms.

The council hopes that through its partnership with the NYA and the NSS, it will be able to reach more young people and empower them to achieve their full potential and contribute to the development of their country and the world.

Source: [Graphic Online]